The Western Growers Center for Innovation and Technology was created to link Western Growers members with innovators in the agtech space. Below are news updates from the Center’s startups.

AgTools

Recent milestones for Agtools include:

• Agtools’ feedback on language for the “Agriculture Data and Science Act” is set to be part of the Farm Bill–the result of two years’ of ongoing work by the team in D.C.
• Existing customer USDAID received a White Paper regarding data provided to processing plants about the 76 variables and phenological weather conditions worldwide for plant operators in order to ensure efficiency and profitability for them and farmers in their communities.
• Agtools’ team was invited to present for a second year in a row during Fruit Logistica, Europe’s largest tradeshow for Food and Agriculture, in Berlin.2023’s presentation was State of the Mangoes and 2024’s was State of the Avocado Market and Data for Optimized Marketing.
• Agtools newly industry track–banking–has opened to real-time data, and invited to present with a live demo to over 1,500 bankers in New York at Finovate. The presentation addressed the $321 billion lending gap between the U.S. farmers’ financial needs and the money lent to them by financial institutions in 2022.

Carbon Robotics

Carbon Robotics introduced enhancements to its Carbon Ops Center, which provides growers running LaserWeeder(TM) with visualizations and actionable metrics on crops and weeds in their fields. This includes crop stand count, crop plant density, crop average size, weed pressure, weeds by type, and average weed size. Heat maps and visual spatial data alert growers to potential problems, trends, and insights early in the growing cycle. Automated reports now available in Carbon Ops Center enable growers to select which LaserWeeder performance, usage, and efficacy metrics to include in a customized report that is automatically generated and sent to them weekly.

Carbon Robotics also released a new mobile phone app called Carbon Companion. The app provides real-time GPS location and metrics on each LaserWeeder operated by growers and supports real-time chat with operators and Carbon Support. Alerts and notifications will be added soon. The Carbon Companion mobile app is available for free download now in the Apple App Store for iPhone users and Google Play Store for Android phone users.

FarmWise

FarmWise successfully sold and deployed all Vulcan precision weeding and cultivation implements produced by the company in late 2023-early 2024. Only after a few months of implementation, exciting productivity metrics are being recorded daily with the Triple-Bed model: 15-acre days in one single shift at the 1.5-2 acres/hour rate for common leafy green and brassica commodities. FarmWise is excited to continue to push the limits of precision weeding and cultivation performance using state-of-the-art engineering practices and tools while staying true to the core design principle of its Vulcan weeder: simplicity of the architecture and straightforward maintenance and servicing.

FarmX

After a successful exhibit at World Ag Expo, FarmX has been riding high. For the first time, visitors saw live demos of FarmX’s dynamic farm management and automation in action. FarmX empowers data-driven decisions by connecting imagery, in-field sensing, irrigation control, and task automation to a single software interface that analyzes and provides actionable recommendations. Visitors praised FarmX’s industry-leading soil moisture probe as well as their fruit quality analyzer, which provides in-field, geo-referenced measurement of Brix, pH, and acidity without damaging fruit. Increased demand for FarmX’s soil moisture probes is now supported by a new manufacturing partnership and release of advanced features.

FarmX’s new vehicle autonomy kits for tractors, rovers, and drones brought the most attention, showcasing autonomous navigation that doesn’t depend on GPS or connectivity.

HotSpotAG

HotSpot AG’s latest innovation, TAC-Box, is engineered for full customization that allows for tracking and control of your water management. This versatile monitoring enclosure offers comprehensive solutions for all your monitoring needs. From pressure and flow monitoring to soil and weather monitoring, the TAC-Box has you covered. With reduced maintenance requirements and lower costs compared to our previous monitoring box, the TAC-Box is the ultimate solution for efficient and cost-effective monitoring on your farm.

LahakX

LahakX, an agricultural spraying drone technology builder and operator, announced that it has been granted a new patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This achievement underscores the company’s ongoing commitment to agricultural spraying innovation and its dedication to advancing autonomous swarming and spot-spraying.

“We are excited with the successful completion of this process that has been years in the making,” said Dr. Itzik Turkel, LahakX Co-Founder and CTO. “Our new Intellectual Property asset perfectly aligns with our vision and implementation. We will continue developing new drone capabilities to better serve our customers and the entire agricultural spraying ecosystem. Ag spraying drones should collaborate to achieve optimized coverage and utilize agronomy data for precision applications.”

The patented technology involves a comprehensive method that incorporates the processing of field images to identify crop status and necessary treatments. This information is crucial for selecting field zones for precise spot-spraying and integrating field parameters. The system efficiently manages a spraying vehicle fleet by calculating optimal travel plans, ensuring precision in spraying designated field zones while maintaining safety distances between vehicles.

Once in operation, the system dynamically verifies and adjusts travel plans, taking corrective actions in real-time to ensure the predetermined safety distances are maintained. This includes modifications to flight paths, changes in speed, and adaptations to overcome unexpected obstacles or weather conditions.

PickTrace

Intermex, a leading omnichannel money transfer service provider, is thrilled to announce its partnership with PickTrace, a labor management platform purpose built for large scale farming operations, aimed at facilitating money transfers for workers in U.S.

Joel Zemer, CEO at PickTrace, shared “Over the past 10-years PickTrace has been committed to digitizing the labor management practices across the US specialty crop sector, where today PickTrace serves hundreds of agriculture employers. With the introduction of our mobile remittance platform, PickTrace is now creating value for the hundreds of thousands of agriculture employees that historically have had limited financial service offerings available to them. We are thrilled about the impact this new partnership with Intermex will enable for the US agriculture workforce, supplying an easy and cost-effective solution to send money back to their home country.”

As of March 1, 2024, users are now able to conveniently send money via the PickTrace mobile app. This service has been seamlessly integrated into PickTrace’s existing application, requiring no additional enrollment or activation process for customers.

Provision Analytics

Provision Analytics has announced the appointment of former IFPA food safety chief, Dr. Jennifer McEntire, as the company’s Strategic Advisor. The recipient of the 2020 NSF International Food Safety Leadership Award and the 2023 Harold Barnum Industry Award, Dr. McEntire has long been an advocate for technology-enabled solutions in food safety. With her distinguished past in the food safety industry, Dr. McEntire will bring her considerable experience to bear in this new role counseling Provision’s product development to ensure that the software meets the most pressing needs for compliance and risk management. In addition to her role as Advisor, Dr. McEntire will be leading a new roundtable of food safety’s most renowned experts in tandem with Provision; the other members of this group will be announced in the very near future.

VineView

VineView is excited to have recently launched our new Smart Sampling Plan tools! Our new Sampling Plan Creator allows you to create sampling plans that pinpoint sampling locations that give an accurate representation of field conditions. The new Mobile Collector app allows you to collect and track your samples with ease. This year only, VineView Smart Sampling will be available free of charge to all customers who have placed an order with VineView in 2024, regardless of the product purchased. Please contact [email protected] for more information.